Contact-shoe carrier.



No. 683,839. Patented Oct. I, [90L J. F. BJUBLUND.

CONTACT SHOE CARRIER.

(Application filed Dec. 6, 1900.)

(No Model.)

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STATES 'I'ATENT Fries;

CONTACT-SHOE CARRIER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 683,839, dated October1, 1901.

Application filed December 5, 1900. Serial No. 38,851. (No model.)

To a whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN F. BJURLUND, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Richmond Hill, borough of Queens, city andState of New York, have in.- vented certain new and useful Improvementsin Contact-Shoe Carriers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists of a carrier for contact-shoes in third-railelectric-railway systems comprising the combination,with a suitablebracket adj ustably connected with a side beam of the car truck or bodyand offset in the pendent part, and thus adapted to carry the shoe underthe protective overhanging cover of the conducting-rail, of an elasticplate connecting the shoe and the bracket in a manner affording a simpleand effective means of carrying the shoe, so as to maintain thecontactwithout interruption in consequence of irregularities of thecontact-rail surfaces relatively to the surfaces of the wheel-carryingrails and. of the rebounding of the cars in rapid motion, said elasticplate being constructed and arranged as hereinafter described, referencebeing made to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a sideelevation of a car-truck, part of a car, and part of a rail, showing myimproved contact-shoe carrier applied, the protective case for theconducting-rail being omitted. Fig. 2 is a detail in transverse sectionof the third rail and its protective cover and of parts of the carrier.Fig. 3 is a detail in side elevation on a larger scale than in Fig,

1 for greater clearness. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the plate by which theshoe is connected to the bracket.

A represents the third rail or conductingrail; a, a couple of wheels ofa truck; I), a side beam of the truck; 0, part of the body of a car, andD the bolster by which the body is mounted on the truck. In this exampleof my invention 1 represent the carrier as attached to the truck-beam b;but it is to be understood that the carrier may be attached to any othersuitable part of the car. It comprises the head a for connecting to saidbeam the ofiset part at for clearing the upper edge of the protectivecover e of the conductingrail and the arm f, reaching under the saidcover for supporting the contact-shoe 9 over the rail A under saidcover. The head 0 of the bracket has slot-holes h for theattaching-bolts i, and stud-pins j, projecting from the inside intocorresponding recesses in the surface of the metal beam b, forreinforcing the power of the bolts in supporting the bracket againstdropping, said beam being provided with a line of such recesses inexcess of the number of studs, enabling the bracket to be set up ordown, as required, The well-known system of counterpart ribs and groovesin the surfaces of the head and beam, respectively, may be employedinstead.

For connecting the shoe g to the part of the arm f reaching under thecover 6 I take a piece of sheet spring-steel of the form repre-- sentedin Fig. 4:-say about twice the width of the rail Aand from two to threetimes, or thereabout, as long as it is wide-and make two parallel slotsis lengthwise, so as to separate marginal portions Z from the middle portion m, which in their aggregate width are about equal to the width ofthe middle portion, and the slots are terminated short of the ends ofthe plate, so that end margins a remain of equal width as the sidemargins or thereabout. I attach the middle portion m of said plate atits middle to the under side of arm f, so that it ranges over the rail Aand lengthwise of it, and to the under side of the two marginal parts II attach the shoe 9, so that it ranges lengthwise with the rail; but itis immaterial whether it be the middle part that is attached to thebracket and the mar ginal parts attached to the shoe or the re-' verse.Before attaching the plate, however, I shape it so as to constitute anelliptic spring, whereof the middle portion forms one member and the twomarginal portions Z form the other member, the middle part being setupward and the marginal parts being set downward, and the set of thespring is such that the shoe will be pressed on the rail with as muchforce and under such range of the spring as will normally keep the shoein contact with the rail subject to the inequalities of the rail and therebounding action of the car, and I also prefer to connect the shoe tothe arm f 100 by a flexible wire braid p, which will limit the drop ofthe shoe when passing gaps in the conducting-rail and when a shoe of oneside of the car is carried on the side of the track not having theconducting rail. The chain also serves, together with the spring-plate,for conducting the electric current from the rail to thesupporting-bracket, from which suitable conductors (not necessary to beshown) may connect with the motor or motors. This affords a very simpleand cheap construction, and the two members of one leaf afford a broaderbase for more stable connection with the bracket than is afforded by theelliptic springs of ordinary construction.

Any suitable means may be provided for connecting the bracket so thatthe shoe may be lifted off the conducting-rail when required; but mypresent invention does not include any such means.

It is to be understood that the carrier may be arranged to present thecontact-shoe to one side of the conducting-rail or against the underside of the rail in case the rail be elevated, and I do not limit myselfto contact with the upper side of the rail only. It will also be seenthat such a carrier will, with strong tension of the spring, serve Wellas a scraper or brush to remove ice when deposited on the rail in theform of sleet.

\Vhat I claim as my invention is-- The combination with the contact-shoeand supporting-bracket, of an elliptic spring consisting of asheet-1netal plate having two parallel lengthwise slots intermediate ofthe ends forming three members of the intermediate portion, the twomarginal members being shaped to form one leaf or half part, and themiddle member shaped to form the other leaf or half part of an ellipticspring, and one half attached to the supporting-bracket, and the otherhaving the contact-shoe attached to it.

Signed at New York city this 10th day of October, 1900.

JOHN F. BJURLUND. Vitnesses:

A. P. THAYER, (J. SEnGWIoK.

